Israel’s Memorial Day: the Dark Night Before the Dawn

It might seem jarring to some, but Israel’s Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism is juxtaposed right before Israel’s Independence Day celebrations. In Jewish thought the day starts in the evening, at twilight, so Memorial Day begins as the sun sets on one day and the following day sees the strange switchover from mourning to dancing at dusk the next day.

We see this sudden turnaround from sadness to joy in many places in the Bible. It almost seems like a biblical principle:

The night is always darkest just before the dawn.

Israel’s Memorial Day

On Memorial Day we mourn 25,644 individuals who died in service to the country, 174 of whom fell this year. We also remember the 5,313 civilians who lost their lives due to acts of terror and war, 79 of whom were killed since last Memorial Day. There are tens of thousands of bereaved families, empty chairs around the table, and lives changed forever.

Backed by Iran, Hamas brought devastation to Israel in the Oct. 7 massacre, and precipitated a horrendous war against Iran’s multiple proxies like tentacles all around the Jewish state, on every side, and against the head of the octopus itself: the Islamic Regime of Iran. That war continues to rage as Israel’s sons, husbands, and fathers are taken from their homes and their jobs to defend their country, some of whom will never return.

We have been reminded of the story of Esther which took place in Iran, and the turnaround of Purim. Haman plotted to destroy the entire Jewish people, but the script was flipped and the people of Israel were dramatically saved yet again — and many Persians joined the house of Israel as a result.

Dark nights become glorious days in the Bible

We also recently celebrated Passover, and it was after Pharaoh ordered the mass killing of Hebrew babies that the wheels of God’s justice began to turn, leading to the joyous exodus: God’s people were finally free after centuries of slavery.

The readings for Passover include Ezekiel 37 and the Valley of Dry Bones, another picture of death and resurrection, dramatic turnaround, which mirrors the destruction of Holocaust followed by the rebirth of Israel after 2,000 years.

The night is always the darkest just before the dawn.

Arise, shine, for your light has come,
    and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
For behold, darkness shall cover the earth,
    and thick darkness the peoples;
but the Lord will arise upon you,
    and his glory will be seen upon you.
(Isaiah 60:1-2)

Doom and despair to testimonies and praise

This principle works in personal lives too. Consider the story of Joseph at the end of Genesis: Thrown into a pit by his brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused, left to rot in prison… the only chink of light in there was the hope that his case would be brought up to Pharaoh by a man whose dream he interpreted favorably, but the man forgot. It’s hard to imagine the despair Joseph must have experienced in those last two years languishing in prison. But then the breakthrough came. He was lifted from prison and degradation to become second only to Pharaoh in the mighty empire of Egypt.

There’s also the example of David. In 1 Samuel 30 David is a hunted man, leading a basket of deplorables out in the wilderness, anointed as king but still on the run. Then their camp was raided by Amalekites, their women and children kidnapped and their possessions stolen. It would have been bad enough if it was a personal tragedy, but David carried the responsibility for everyone as their leader. Verse 4 tells us they wept until they had no tears left to weep. But then they recover it all — wives, children, possessions and everything. And a couple of chapters later Saul is dead and David is crowned king.

“Grief hereat so prevailed in David and at their return that in anguish of their hearts they were ready to stone him (1 Sam. xxx.6). Could better be expected from them? Behold their original, they were at first men in debt and distress (1 Sam. xxii.2), whose several discontents made them generally contented to join together; so that not David, but his necessities chose them to attend him, who now in adversity discovered their impious dispositions. But David, to avoid this danger of stones ready to rain upon him, ran for shelter to God his Rock, in whom he comforted himself. Thus, as it is always darkest just before the day dawneth, so God useth to visit His servants with greatest afflictions when he intendeth their speedy advancement. For immediately after David not only recovered his loss with advantage, but also was proclaimed king of Israel,” wrote 17th century theologian, Thomas Fuller (‘A Pisgah Sight of Palestine’, 1650, p. 208).

In both these cases the turnaround from dark night to the dawning of a new and glorious day affects not only the individuals but many other people as well. You and I are also benefiting from the strong encouragement of their testimonies even now, thousands of years later.

The turnaround that brings hope to the world

The peak of such a turnaround though must surely be the death and resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah. Betrayed, tortured, and crucified, He died in absolute agony with all the weight of the world’s sin on His shoulders. Even the sun was blacked out with an eclipse as nature reflected the darkness of the Messiah’s death and burial. But then…

Yeshua’s glorious resurrection with the dawn on the third day has changed everything forever. Like Joseph and David, Yeshua’s victory was personal to Him, but reached out to bless many others. In His case of course, the effect was exponentially greater. Nothing will ever be the same. His death killed death itself, and defeated the power of the grave.

This great gift of new life has reached all around the world, from Jerusalem to Judea and to the ends of the earth. Now it has come back to the reborn Israel, and tens of thousands of Israelis have found their Messiah. At a recent women’s conference here in Israel around 850 believing women signed up for a day of worship and fellowship together with each other and the Lord. The subject? Beauty for ashes. Yes, we have been in ashes, but God lifts us up and bestows on us a crown of beauty.

We have been going through a very dark night here in Israel, and we will grieve for the thousands lost on Memorial Day. But dawn is breaking. We are still at war, yet groundbreaking peace talks and historic negotiations are now taking place. Many are starting to wonder: are we about to see a season of peace in the Middle East like we’ve never known before? Will we be able to travel to Lebanon, Iran, Syria, and Saudi Arabia? Will we be able to encounter brothers and sisters from around the region and worship together? If this terrible season of war breaks out into a time of unprecedented peace, it would be absolutely amazing. But given the biblical pattern, it might be just around the corner. Even if we do enjoy a pocket of peace for a time when we can freely travel, fellowship, and share the gospel in the Middle East, we know from biblical prophecy that worse is yet to come before the Lord returns. Yet when it gets really, really bad, we can be sure that our ultimate redemption is on the way. The night is always darkest just before the dawn.

Based on a devotional by Dr. Golan Broshi

Photo by Dawid Zawiła on Unsplash